Washington, DC: Wall Street-Washington Corridor

The term “Wall Street-Washington Corridor” was popularized by the economist Simon Johnson, who used the name in the article “The Quiet Coup” in the May 2009 Atlantic magazine and in his book 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown (2011). “Wall Street-Washington Corridor” means that people often shuffle between jobs in the federal government and in powerful financial institutions; when working in government, these top agency officials often write industry-friendly rules.
 
The watchdog group FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting) had used the similar term “Washington/Wall Street corridor” in 1990.
 
   
Wikipedia: Simon Johnson (economist)
Simon H. Johnson (born January 16, 1963) is a British American economist. He is the Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He has held a wide variety of academic and policy-related positions, including Professor of Economics at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. From March 2007 through the end of August 2008, he was Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund.
 
He is author, with James Kwak, of the 2010 book 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown (ISBN 978-0307379054), with whom he has also co-founded and regularly contributes to the economics blog The Baseline Scenario.
 
17 November 1992, Dayton (OH) Daily News, “MacNeil isn’t in this for the ratings” by Tom Hopkins, pg. 7B:
Fairness and Accuracy in Media (FAIR), a media watchdog group, got into the act in 1990, accusing The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour of reflecting a narrow spectrum of opinion from the white male, Washington-Wall Street corridor of power.
 
The Atlantic (May 2009)
The Quiet Coup
The crash has laid bare many unpleasant truths about the United States. One of the most alarming, says a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is that the finance industry has effectively captured our government—a state of affairs that more typically describes emerging markets, and is at the center of many emerging-market crises. If the IMF’s staff could speak freely about the U.S., it would tell us what it tells all countries in this situation: recovery will fail unless we break the financial oligarchy that is blocking essential reform. And if we are to prevent a true depression, we’re running out of time.
By SIMON JOHNSON
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The Wall Street–Washington Corridor
Of course, the U.S. is unique. And just as we have the world’s most advanced economy, military, and technology, we also have its most advanced oligarchy.
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One channel of influence was, of course, the flow of individuals between Wall Street and Washington. Robert Rubin, once the co-chairman of Goldman Sachs, served in Washington as Treasury secretary under Clinton, and later became chairman of Citigroup’s executive committee. Henry Paulson, CEO of Goldman Sachs during the long boom, became Treasury secretary under George W.Bush. John Snow, Paulson’s predecessor, left to become chairman of Cerberus Capital Management, a large private-equity firm that also counts Dan Quayle among its executives. Alan Greenspan, after leaving the Federal Reserve, became a consultant to Pimco, perhaps the biggest player in international bond markets.
 
These personal connections were multiplied many times over at the lower levels of the past three presidential administrations, strengthening the ties between Washington and Wall Street.
   
The Baseline Scenario
The Department Of Justice Is On Line Two
Posted on April 17, 2009 by Simon Johnson
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Let me be very clear on my position vis-a-vis AIG-Goldman and the broader Washington-Wall Street Corridor.  I’m not saying that anyone has broken any laws, but rather that laws need to be changed.  I’m not even saying that there have been transgressions against the prevailing code of ethics for executives and politicians – although surely we agree that this code needs to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century.

I’m just saying that we have a problem – ultimately, with the belief system that underpins how big finance behaves – and we need to fix it.
   
iTulip.com
raja
10-07-09, 12:30 AM
All we need now is for the Orator-in-Chief to label the Wall Street - Washington corridor the “Axis of Evil” in one of his speeches…:eek:
   
Google Books
The Betrayal of American Prosperity:
Free Market Delusions, America’s Decline, and How We Must Compete in the Post-Dollar Era
By Clyde Prestowitz
New York, NY” Free Press
2010
Pg. 270:
As Simon Johnson says, the Wall Street–Washington corridor is rich and crowded.
   
The Huffington Post
Posted: April 24, 2010 05:53 PM
The Sickening Abuse of Power at the Heart of Wall Street
By Simon Johnson
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Large global banks make money, in part, through nontransparent manipulation of information - this is the heart of the SEC charges against Goldman Sachs. But the problem is much broader: the Wall Street-Washington corridor is alive and well on its way to another crisis that will empower, enrich, and embolden insiders (public and private) while impoverishing the rest of us.
 
Google Books
13 Bankers:
The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown
By Simon Johnson
New York, NY: Vintage Books (Random House)
2011
Pg. 92:
THE WALL STREET-WASHINGTON CORRIDOR
   
De Sous et des Hommes
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2011
Hostages of Wall Street ?
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The inside job, a film directed by Charles Fergusson, does a great job at describing the rise of the financial leviathan, depicting the “Wall Street - Washington corridor” that Johnson wrote about.
   
Fordham Political Review
American Financialization
in Business & Economics by Gabriel Agostini — November 12, 2012 9:47 am
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It should come as no surprise that the greatest concentration of wealth rests in the 21st century lies in the financial sector. In 1973, financial sector profits comprised just 16 percent of total domestic corporate profits. Today, that same figure has Wall Street reaping nearly 33 percent. While Wall Street apologists often argue that these powerful financial institutions have become so powerful because they are the strongest players in a Darwinist free-market, reality tells a different story. Their boon in sheer economic influence has come hand-in-hand with a parallel boom in political clout and authority; a relationship that former IMF Chief Economist, Simon Johnson, has dubbed the “Wall Street-Washington Corridor:” a place reserved for those who will work in their utmost capacity to advance the interests of today’s Masters of Mankind through legislation.